Sam Allardyce insists his verbal jousting with Jurgen Klopp in recent weeks was blown out of proportion by the media, and he thinks the German is a “great character”.

The Sunderland boss called Klopp a “soft German” for his angry reaction to Jeremain Lens’ reckless tackle on Mamadou Sakho in Liverpool’s 1-0 win at the Stadium of Light in late December.

Then in a radio interview a week later he said Klopp had under-estimated how “ferocious” the Premier League is, with Klopp replying: “I am glad for Sam... that he has time to think about Liverpool’s problems.”

Allardyce says reports of a bitter fall-out were exaggerated.

“I made a comment which I perhaps shouldn’t have done - which wasn’t directed at him really - and you journalists made a fuss out of an honest answer I made on Talk Sport,” he said.

“Alan Brazil has apologised to me - when he saw the headline he thought it was more ridiculous than I did.

“I have no problem with Jurgen. It’s great to see him here as he’s a great character. I can’t wish him well on Saturday but after that I do.”

When asked about the ‘soft German’ jibe, he replied: “It was more about whether German football was softer than ours, when he said Jeremain Lens should have got sent off. You lads wanted a headline and you got one.”

Liverpool were beaten 2-0 by Leicester on Tuesday and have won only one league game in 2016, which was the 5-4 thriller against Sunderland’s relegation rivals Norwich.

They are 11 points adrift of a Champions League spot and only 13 points clear of the relegation zone: the unbridled optimism that greeted Klopp’s arrival is starting to fizzle out.

Allardyce believes injuries have taken their toll on Liverpool’s season.